RESPONSE OPTIONS

Read 1 Peter 3:8–12 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:9 As Christians, we can live on one of three levels. We can return evil for good, which...

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NO CONDEMNATION

Read Romans 8:18–39 We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 As believers we never need faint in times of suffering because we know that God is at work in the world,...

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THREE FRIENDS

Read Job 2—3 THREE FRIENDS When Job’s three friends … heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. Job 2:11 All three of Job’s friends were old (Job...

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WHEN IN ROME …

Read Romans 1:8–15 WHEN IN ROME … I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the Foolish. Romans 1:14 Rome was a proud city, and the gospel came from Jerusalem, the capital city of a little nation Rome had conquered. The Christians in that day...

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SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Read Hebrews 8:7–12 I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. Hebrews 8:12 What does it mean that God remembers our sins no more? Does it mean that our all-knowing God can actually forget what we have done? The phrase “remember [our] sins no more” means...

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LOST PATIENCE

Read 1 Peter 4:4–6 [The pagans] think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. 1 Peter 4:4 Unsaved people do not understand the radical change that their friends experience when they trust Christ and become children...

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WHEN PLEASURE IS TREASURED

Read Ecclesiastes 2:1–11 When I surveyed all that my hands had done … everything was meaningless. Ecclesiastes 2:11 Today’s world is pleasure mad. Millions of people will pay almost any amount of money to buy experiences to temporarily escape the burdens of life. While there is nothing wrong with innocent...

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PLEASING PRIORITIES

Read 1 John 4:20–21 Anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:20 When our hearts are confident toward God, there is no need for us to pretend, either to God or to other people. If we...

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MAINTAINING TOGETHERNESS

Read Hebrews 10:24–39 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25 Our fellowship with God must never become selfish. We must also fellowship with other Christians...

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DISORDER IN THE COURT

Read Ecclesiastes 4:1–6 I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. Ecclesiastes 4:2 Solomon went into a courtroom to watch a trial, and there he saw innocent people being oppressed by power-hungry officials. The victims wept, but their tears did...

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